The Evil in Our Hearts Revised
by SnapeIsMyEscape
Summary: This is the revised version of my story by the same name. See that for a description.
1. Chapter 1

Hey there guys! I decided that I'm going to rewrite _The Evil in Our Hearts_ because going back over it I see a whoooooole lot of mistakes that I didn't catch before. With my awesome skills of re-writing I shall make the story better!

…. Hopefully.

Anyway, I'm going to keep the original up. I think it's good for people to be able to compare the two different writing styles. And besides, Adrienne isn't going to be annoying in this one. Won't some of you miss that?

On to the ficcy!

Chapter 1: The Pale Shadow and the Revelation of Trouble

The Xiaolin Monks all groaned as the soccer ball went flying over the temple wall.

"Way to go, Rai." said Kimiko, annoyance etched on her face.

"Yes, that was most irresponsible of you," added Omi.

"Okay, guys, chill!" said Raimundo. "I'll go get it, don't freak!" And so, Raimundo hopped over the wall to go get the misplaced ball. "If I was a soccer ball, where would I be?" He asked himself, walking idly around. "I'd be…at the base of that tree!" Raimundo ran over to the tree in question, and picked the ball up. He then turned around, and proceeded to walk into someone. "Oh, sor-"

"_The time is coming…"_ rasped the stranger. Raimundo could tell that this person was a woman by the higher pitch of the voice. She wore a brown cloak that billowed slightly in the breeze. The hood of the cloak was up, covering the woman's head. Raimundo stepped back, but stopped short as he met the person's eyes. They were a deep green not unlike his own, but they seemed glassy and unfocused. From the shadowed face he could tell that this stranger was pale – almost too pale.

"What?" he asked, "Dude, I gotta - "

"_In a short time, a threat will reveal it self."_ the cloaked woman continued, almost as if she couldn't hear him, _" It will be more powerful then all of your enemies combined. Be wary of this warning…the time is coming…"_ The woman started fade, still whispering the message as they went.

"Wait!" Raimundo called reaching out for them, "The guys will never believe me!" But she waas gone, and nothing was left of her but a piece of the brown cloak that Raimundo had grabbed, but that too began to fade. Raimundo looked at his fist, now clenching air, and wondered who or what could possible be that much of a threat to anyone. Then, he turned around, and went back to the temple, trying to forget what he had just heard.

* * *

I pushed my red hair out of my face and bit my lip, staring down at the picture I was drawing; a man with a thin face, and long, black hair. He was missing something….

"Hey, Thanos," whispered Tristessa over my shoulder, "Who's that? Your boyfriend?" Her voice held mirth, the kind she reserved especially for me.

"Shut up," I growled, covering the drawing with my arm. "It's nothing of your concern."

She sniggered, and said to her friends, "Thanos is so pitiful, she has to draw her boyfriends! I bet she sleeps with it at night!" Her friends laughed loudly. I clenched my fist.

"Shut up!" I said, turning to face her, boring my green eyes into her dark brown ones. She smirked at me, knowing I wouldn't hurt her, no matter how I threatened.

"Settle down, settle down!" cried Mrs. Coons. The classroom immediately fell silent as she walked in and placed her bag on the desk. "All right!" cried she, clapping her hands together in excitement, "Get out your books, and turn to page three hundred and ninety-four. You have the class period to do all of the problems on this page. This is to be graded as a test, so do your best work. To be handed in at the end of class. Begin."

All of my classmates sighed and slowly got their books out. I got my book out as well. I looked at the cover lovingly. 'Calculus,' I thought, 'the best form of math there is.' I opened to the assigned page and set to work. I was finished within the first half hour. Then I sat back and thought. 'That was refreshing! Nothing like a little bit of math to clear the mind. But still, I wish that I had a good book. Like Harry Potter!' I smiled openly to myself, almost chuckling. As I closed my book, restless sighs around me indicated that my classmates were in no similar position. 'Maybe I should meditate. Sure, I don't really know how and I generally fall asleep when I try, but anything is better then sitting around here like a bum.' I then closed my eyes and concentrated as hard as I could. I searched through my memories, my emotions.

The bell rang and I blinked in confusion. Had it really taken that long for me to concentrate?

"Miss Thanos, is something wrong?" Mrs. Coons' voice broke through my thoughts as my peers sniggered.

"Oh! No ma'am, I'm fine."

"Well, I would suggest that you hand in your paper, and go to your next class."

"This was my last class of the day, ma'am." I said, handing my paper to her. She nodded her understanding and I went back to my desk and collected my things before turning around and walking out of the classroom. I pushed my way through the throng of loitering students down the hallway to the front doors. The sky outside was dark, oppressive clouds threatening rain. I walked out the doors towards the large oak tree and accidentally dropped my pencil (which I had neglected to put in my bag) and leaned down to pick it up. I saw out of the corner of my eye something shiny. Upon further investigation, I saw that is was a large emerald. I picked it up and turned it over in my fingers. "Odd…" I muttered under my breath, rising back to my feet.

"Hello," I turned around to see who had spoken. Upon first glance I saw three children. The only girl appeared to be Asian, the burlier of the boys looked American, and the other Latino. "Hello, friend!" I looked down to see who had spoken, and saw a fourth child, with yellow skin and a giant, bald head.

"Uh…hello…." I replied hesitantly.

"That item you hold in your hand is very precious. May we please have it?"

"Oh? And what precious object would that be?" I asked, irritated that a kid was talking to me like I was an ignorant toddler. The three children behind him looked somewhat nervous, but the bald one just smiled and explained.

"It is a Shen Gong Wu." he told me in a friendly manner. "A magical object that holds great power."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh huh…sure…"

'Wow, this kid is a basket case!' I thought to myself, nearly shaking my head in disbelief.

At that moment, I heard a strange whirring noise and looked up to the skies. A pale boy with red hair and eyeliner was using a strange contraption was floating down from the sky. "Оh my God!" I squeaked, taking a few steps backward. The pale boy let out a laugh.

"Jack Spicer!" The bald kid exclaimed. He and his companions went into fighting stances. "Prepare for a most humiliating defeat!"

"Not this time Xiaolin losers!" said the pale kid, presumably Jack Spicer, "Jack bots-"

"There's no time for that!" said an almost translucent, purple floating thing, "Just get the Shen Gong Wu before -"

"Before what, Wuya?" Everyone's heads snapped to a man wearing bronze armor. His black hair, which was blowing in the wind, had a greenish tint to it. His eyes made me shiver. I never knew anyone's eyes could be yellow.

"Chase!" Wuya exclaimed.

"Chase Young!" This time, the Latino boy spoke. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought that I'd pop in and watch," he said, "I'm interested to see how much you've learned."

I was getting a little freaked out. They where going to fight? And then they expected me to hand over this "mystical" object? That never was going to happen.

"Excuse me." I tried to cut in quietly, but no one heard me; they just continued arguing. I was beginning to feel weird; there was a peculiar bubbly sensation in the pit of my stomach. Was it anger? "Excuse me!" I said loudly. All eyes snapped to me. "How am I supposed to know that you are telling the truth? What if it's just one big joke?" The feeling was getting stronger. " How do I know that Tristessa didn't put you up to this?"

"Oh, do not worry," said the bald one, "I know it might be hard for you to understand -"

I had had enough. "Now you're insulting my intelligence? I've had a life time full of people doubting me, and now some little bald kid is too!" My brain was buzzing from the intensity of the words. "I've had enough!" Suddenly, there was a gust of wind. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Okay, okay, chill!" Cried the Latino.

"I will not chill! No one understands what it's like being put down in every aspect of life!" Rain began to fall. "Why don't you try being me for a day? Then you can feel what it's like being laughed at!" I felt my feet leave the ground. I looked down and saw that I was at least ten feet in the air, but I didn't care; I was too angry. When I looked at the faces of the people around me, all shared the same emotion: fear.

End of Chapter One

A//N: So, what do you guys think? Is this edit better or worse? Review to let me know if I should continue!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Something Wicked this way Comes

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed. Rain fell harder then I had ever seen it fall; it was as if the floodgates 1 had been opened to create another great flood. None of these great phenomena registered in my mind, however; I had seen red and now all I could focus on was my rage towards these strangers.

Something I did notice, however, was a sharp sting along the calf of my left leg. Looking down, I saw split skin with thick, red blood oozing forth. I was caught by surprise and let out a scream as the pain set in.

Suddenly, I was overcome by fatigue. I began to fall towards the ground, tears sliding down my cheeks; partially from the pain, but mostly from my frustration. I closed my eyes when my feet hit the ground, all of my senses telling me to flee, but my knees gave out and I collapsed. I felt the rain let up a little bit, but I didn't open my eyes. I could still fell their eyes on me, and all I wanted was to be home with a book. After a few minutes, the Asian girl broke the silence.

"Uh…. What just happened?"

"I don' know." drawled the burly boy with a heavy southern accent, " It all happened so quickly…" I then felt someone shaking me.

"Hey, miss!" It was the Latino, "Are you okay?" My eyes snapped opened open.

"Getawayfrome." I slurred thickly. All I wanted was to be alone, away from these strange, and potentially dangerous, people. He looked into my eyes, concern etched on his features.

"You're hurt," he said, gesturing toward the gash on my left calf.

"Oh yeah…" I groaned closing my eyes again, and jerking my leg away from his hand. "I think I'm… Loosing blood fast."

He chuckled gently. "Trust me, it's not that bad." he hesitated for a second before hesitantly murmuring, "I think that you need to come with us."

My eyes snapped open again. "No…." I rasped, crawling back, away from the strange boy. "I'm not that bad. I think that I'll just go home." I tried to struggle to my feet, but my leg gave out and I fell back to the ground. My eyes moved wildly from side to side looking for a way to escape, but, of course, I was completely surrounded. 'Damn.' I thought, 'I would be the one to get caught up in something like this. I'm almost as unlucky as Neville Longbottom…'

"No need to worry, miss," said the southerner, "We don't bite. You'll be safe with us like a baby kangaroo in its mother's pouch."

I looked at him strangely. "You mean a joey." I corrected him with a little more venom then I would have liked. "And how do I know that? I know absolutely nothing about you people. You could be terrorists!" I gestured to the three outliers, "How do I know that they don't have better motives?"

"Trust me, we don't," said Jack quickly, "We're evil, through and through."

"Well," said Chase Young, "Most of us are." He cast an irritated look at Jack.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack whined, looking at Chase with puppy dog eyes. The four youths in front of me gagged. "I'm evil! What about the time - "

"That was all me." Chase, an amused smirk on his face, cut in, effectively crushing the albino teen.

"See?" asked the Latino, "They even admit that they're evil."

Not wanting to have enemies this unashamed of their attributes, I muttered, "Well, at least they're honest…"

The eight young eyes turned back to me. "So…" started the girl, sounding rather timid, "Will you, you know…" she moved her hands in an unsure motion, trying to convey unspoken words through action.

The yellow child, noticing his companion's inability to find the right words, cut in, "Come with us?"

I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to go with them and get out of this hell hole, but my rational told me that I should seek a doctor's help. "I – I think I should go home - "

"Why don't you come with us?" Jack cut in, gesturing to himself and Wuya. The other four teens glared at him. "What? She deserves other options!" he cried, putting his hands in front of submissively.

"If she wanted to be evil she would come with me, Spicer." Chase said smoothly, folding his arms over his chest. "She'd get a much better education with me."

I flushed and looked quickly back at the Latino. "I'm going with you," I told him, reaching my hand out so he could help me up.

"Excellent!" said the Latino, "Dojo! It's all right, you can come out now!"

"Thank you!" cried an unknown voice, "It was getting stuffy in here!" Out of the

American's pants crawled a two armed amphibian, the likes of which I'd never seen.

"What in the name of God is that?" I cried, letting go of the Latino boy's hand and falling back to the ground.

The boy laughed. "Dojo's a dragon. He provides transportation for us."

I looked at the small dragon. "But, he's so small…."

"I'm small now," he said, stretching his tiny arms, "But I won't be in a couple of seconds. Just hold on…" and then he grew to a huge size that scared the living daylights out of me. He was roughly ten sizes bigger then he started out.

"Oh my god!" I yelped, nearly falling over again.

"It's all right," said the southerner, "He won't hurt ya."

I held onto the boys shoulder and moved cautiously towards the huge monster, who stared at me intently like he'd never seen a girl before.

"Here, Raimundo," said the burly boy, "I'll help her up." Riamundo moved out of the way and, despite me being a head taller then him, the American picked me up bridal style and jumped up onto the dragon's back. He put me down so that I was sitting sidesaddle. "There ya go," He said, tipping his hat respectfully.

"Thanks…" I said as the others jumped us and joined us.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves." said the bald kid, "I am Omi, the Dragon of Water."

"You guys are dragons, too?" I asked timidly.

"Not real dragons," said the girl with a laugh, "that's our status. I'm Kimiko, the Dragon of Fire."

"And I'm Clay, Dragon of the Earth."

"And I," said the Latino dramatically, "am Raimundo, the Dragon of Wind and the leader of the group."

"It's good to meet all of you," I said as Dojo lifted off of the ground and we gained speed.

'Maybe my life is finally turning around,' I thought, a small smile gracing my mouth, 'Maybe my life finally has a meaning.' I had the feeling that my life would never be the same. I never could have dreamed how right I was.

* * *

We rode in silence for most of the way, the only sound the occasional whisper from one dragon to another. I was extremely tense even though I now knew that I was with friendly people, and the whispering didn't help. The wind blew my hair in and out of my face and, not for the first time that day, I wished that I had a hair tie. Fortunately, the ride was brief and we arrived within the same hour we departed. Dojo made a quick decent and Kimiko, Omi and Raimundo hopped off. Clay picked me up again, and then he jumped down as well.

"Well, here we are!" cried Dojo as he shrank back to his small size, "Home sweet home!"

I looked around, and found myself gazing at one of the most gorgeous places I had ever been. There were old buildings with cement walls and roofs with blue shingles. It looked like something I had seen in a textbook once in my world history class. I think it was in fifth grade, and we were learning about China. 'That's probably where we are now,' I thought, 'China. Aren't I deductive!'

'_Lord in Hell! I am so sick of those happy little annoying thoughts! Why can't you have normal, pessimistic thoughts like other people?'_ I gasped at that thought. Where the heck did that come from? Whose voice was that? It surely wasn't mine.

"I know, it's beautiful, isn't it?" sighed Kimiko. "I wish I had lived here all my life." At first, her statement confused me, but I then realized that she had taken my gasp as one of pleasant surprise instead of a horrific discovery.

"Yes," I said, trying to focus on the dragons and not my own twisted way of thinking.

"This is the most beauteous place I've ever been to."

"Why, thank you." I turned quickly around and saw the new speaker was an aged man wearing a blue vest, a white shirt, and white pants. " Well, young monks were you successful in getting the Emerald of Restoration?"

The monks looked embarrassed. "Well," said Raimundo, "Actually, she has it."

All eyes turned to me once again. I looked at the emerald in my hand with curiosity. "So, what does this thing do?" I asked, turning it over in my hand.

"You mean, the young monks did not tell you?" asked the man. I shook my head. He looked at Raimundo, disappointed. "Riamundo, you brought her back here without telling her anything?"

Riamundo squirmed uncomfortably under the man's gaze. "She knows a little," he said quietly. "She knows who we are, and what a Shen Gong Wu is."

"Well, that's a start," said the man. He then turned back to me. "If you come with me, I will explain every thing."

"Um…. Okay…." I followed the man, and heard the monks follow me. He led me through more gardens, and then into one of the cement buildings to an office type room.

He sat down behind a desk and surveyed me with his blue eyes. "So," he said, "Tell me how this all started."

'_Foolish man,'_ came the new voice, _'You will never know the full extent of it.'_ Confused, I fought to free my mind of the strange thought.

"Well," I started, "I guess it all started earlier today, when I was in my calculus class. I had finished early, which is not uncommon for me, and was completely bored. So, I decided to meditate."

"You practice meditation?" The man asked conversationally.

I blushed. "Well, I'm not _good_ at it, and I hardly ever do it… Mostly when I'm bored, such as in this case." He nodded, indicating that he understood. "I was just sitting at my desk, trying to clear my mind. I guess I just got caught up in it, so I didn't realize how long I had been sitting there.

"I was broken out of my trance by my teacher. She asked if I was okay, and I told her I was fine. So I headed outside to go home. I dropped my pencil near this big oak tree, so I leaned over to get it. Then I saw the emerald lying in the grass so I picked it up to examine it.

"Then, Omi came up to me and asked me for it, telling me it was a mystical object. I was skeptical, and I thought that this girl in my school, Tristessa, had put them up to making me look like a fool. So I stood my ground and didn't give it up. Then, a boy named Jack Spicer showed up and started demanding the emerald as well. He had a ghost named Wuya with him; at least, I think that was her name.

"Then, some guy named Chase Young appeared out of nowhere. I was beginning to freak out. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Then I kind of…went ballistic.

"I…" I started to fidget, not knowing if I should continue for fear that I would be laughed at. I looked back at the monks behind me. Clay nodded, Riamundo gave me the thumbs up, Kimiko smiled encouragingly, and Omi looked off out the window, clearly more interested in something out there. Kimiko, who was next to him, nudged him in the

head. He turned quickly and gave the thumbs up as well.

"Well, then something remarkable happened," I said, smiling and turning around. "I started to float off of the ground and it started to rain harder than I had ever seen it rain. It was unbelievable. I was soon overwhelmed with fatigue, possibly from the gash on my leg."

"When did you get it?" he asked.

"Just today, by the tree branch that was struck by lightning."

The man sat there, staring at his hands, obviously thinking about something. He drew in a breath, and then asked, "Has that ever happened before?"

"The floating? No, never."

He sat and thought for a while longer, and then asked me another question. "Could you excuse the young monks and I for a moment?"

I nodded, and he stood up and gestured for the children to follow him. Once they had exited, he spoke to them. "Is all of this true?" he asked.

They all answered at once, all supporting my story. "Do you think she could be a Dragon, Master Fung?" asked Kimiko.

"Yeah, like one that you missed or something?" added Riamundo.

"No," said the man, presumably Master Fung. "There is no element matching the description of the power she gave. However," he said to calm the moans of the monks, "In fact, I have only heard of this kind of power once before."

"What is it, Master?" asked Omi.

"It is a power that comes with having a demon. I am unsure if this is the case with this young lady, but, if so, we should be cautious."

I was shocked. I had a demon with me? 'Oh God…'

'_Not exactly. And I thank you not to make the mistake again.'_

'But what do you want with me?'

'_That is a story for another time, girl. Now hush; that infernal man is coming back.'_

At that moment, the monks and Master Fung re-entered the room. Master Fung approached me somewhat cautiously.

"Forgive me," he said, "But, we don't know your name, or age."

"My name? Oh! Yes. My name is Adrienne Thanos, and I'm nineteen."

"Nineteen!" cried Riamundo, "You don't look nineteen."

I smiled.

"Well, Adrienne, I think that you have a special talent. I think that you can manipulate objects at will. See that rock on my desk?" I nodded. "Try lifting up without touching it."

I nodded again, and focused as hard as I could on the small rock.

I imagined it floating off of the desk. 'Be the rock_,_' I said to my self, 'be the rock.'

'_Oh for the love of – just shut up and let me do it.'_

The rock flew off of the desk right at Master Fung. Gasping, I cried,

"Oh! I am so sorry!"

The Master caught the rock with ease, much to the chagrin of the spirit.

'_Damnation!'_

"I think that we should talk."

He told me that I should consider being tested farther to find out what kind of powers I truly held. I tentatively agreed. If I really had a demon (which it was fairly apparent I did,) then I would want to get it removed from my person as soon as possible. Master Fung understood completely and concurred.

Little did I know that Jack Spicer had used the Manchurian Musca and was listening to the whole thing and then went to tell Wuya. Little did they know they were being listened in on by one of Chase Young's birds who went and related the whole thing to him.

So in the course of a day I had three different groups trying to use me to their advantage. I must admit, if the stakes hadn't been so high I would have been flattered; I would even go as far to say I would have been ecstatic. The circumstances made me worry for the safety of my soul…

If only I had known I had far worse things to be worried about.

This Concludes Chapter Two

A//N: This is turning out _waaaaay_ different. Fear not! The result will be the same!

1: This refers to the old Jewish belief that the world was contained in a dome and completely surrounded by water. When the floodgates were opened it rained. Obviously.


	3. Chapter 3

Introductions and Potential Suitors

Blackness. I was surrounded by complete and utter darkness, unable to see anything. I knew that I was asleep because this was how I normally dreamt, these dreams only interrupted by the occasional nightmare of how my parents died. I didn't speak or move, but stood patiently, waiting to wake up and see what the world would throw at me today. I stood in the refreshing darkness a little while longer, recounting the events of the previous day. I remembered the demon; I could almost feel it inside of my head, stirring restlessly in its own slumber. What did it want from me? Have I always had it? These questions and others swam through my mind, only to be devoured by the omnipresent darkness. The demon stole every thought away, leaving me with only a deep seeded fear.

After what seemed to be hours, I awoke in the room that I was led to after my talk with Master Fung and the gash in my leg got medical attention. The Monks had asked me all sorts of questions about what I liked to do, and I gave them the best answers I could with my mind being elsewhere. They asked me where I was from, and I answered that I was born in Italy, but my parents moved us to Russia for my father's job. They then asked what my father did, to which I told them that he was an architect and he was asked to move to Russia to help design apartment complexes. The next question did not come as a surprise.

"Where are your parents now?" asked Omi.

I sighed. "My parents are both dead." I answered, looking him straight in the eyes. "They died when I was fourteen. I'm an orphan."

Omi looked up at me with understanding eyes. "I, too, am an orphan," he said, "My first memories are of the temple."

"It's good to know that I'm not alone," I said, smiling at him softly. I asked them a question as well.

"What does this Shen Gong Wu do?" I asked, holding up the Emerald of Restoration, which had been forgotten up until now.

"Oh, that?" Raimundo, shrugged. "It changes situations back to the way they were. It can only be used once."

I looked down at it, wondering how something so small could be so powerful.

They soon left, under the impression that I was tired, but I was more worried than tired. I couldn't stop thinking about the new voice that had been taking over my mind.

'_Would you stop?'_ the demon sighed, obviously aggravated. _'I'm getting really sick of you. I'm not too far from just taking your soul back to hell with me.'_

'I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me.' I flinched at my own weakness, hoping that the voice would be content with my sufficient fear and leave me alone.

After a few rough grumbles, the Demon subsided and left me to my thoughts. Looking at the mat on the floor, I sighed. I knew that this would be an interesting night. I lay down on top of the covers, (I didn't sleep under them unless it was very cold. And I mean very cold; I did live in Russia after all,) and closed my eyes, trying to calm the storm of my mind. I must have lain awake for at least half an hour until I was on the brink of sleep when I heard footsteps outside of the room. I silently cursed the nightwalker as my mind came out of its nearly dormant state to listen. The noise stopped as its owner lingered momentarily outside of my doorway, obviously peering in to make sure I was safe from dangers unknown to me. The nightwalker, content with the fact that I was safe and sound, continued their stroll, and, until the noise of their foot falls faded completely, held my senses captive.

After another half hour of restlessness, I drifted off to sleep, allowing my body to relax. As soon as I was surrounded by the blackness, I was completely helpless. No thoughts could keep me occupied 'till dawn, so the hours dragged on grudgingly. Eventually, to my content, I became aware that dawn was approaching, and I would soon be saved from my tormentor.

I sighed and sat up, wondering if I was just supposed to venture out myself, or wait for one of the Monks to come get me. I decided to wait, not really wanting to stand up and walk around and risk the possibility of getting lost. I only had to wait for a few minutes until Raimundo popped into view in the hall.

"Oh, good, you're up." he said, smiling, "Did you sleep well?"

"I've had worse nights," I replied, standing up and smoothing my clothes.

He nodded. "I know what you mean," he smiled, moving into the room. "The first time I saw the mats, I asked Master Fung where the beds were."

I laughed and started towards the door. "I don't really mind, it's better than camping."

He nodded in agreement. "Are you hungry?" he asked, looking at me with his amazingly green eyes.

"I don't remember a time when I'm not hungry. Not because I don't have food," I added, just in case he got the wrong message. "It's no matter how much I eat. Like most other teens nowadays, I suppose."

Once again, he nodded. "I know what you mean." He then gestured for me to follow him. "Come on," he said, "The others are looking forward to showing you how we train."

"What about food?" I asked, my stomach growling at the very mention of the word.

"That comes first," he laughed, "We couldn't train without it." The rest of the walk there we spent talking about trivial things, such as sports, the weather, and books. The other Monks were already at the table when Raimundo and I arrived. They were eating quickly, and I could tell that they all were hungry no matter what they ate as well. Raimundo gestured for me to sit down, so I sank into a chair between his and Clay's.

"Good mornin', Adrienne." Clay said between chews.

"Good morning." I said quietly.

"Eat up, Adrienne," said the Southerner, "We start trainin' in a little while."

"Those are some of my favorite words." I smiled and pulled some of the food towards me. "So, Clay," I started on one of the rare pauses in his eating, "Where are you from? The United States?"

"Yep. The good old US of A." He practically swelled with pride as he stated the name of the world power.

"Which state? Tennessee?"

There was a gasp from the burly boy before he stated harshly, "No! Texas!"

"I should have known," I said, "Sorry. I hope I didn't offend you or anything."

"It's all right, but I just don't see how you couldn't tell I was from Texas!" I smiled apologetically when I heard him mutter, "Tennessee! Huh."

"Kimiko, are you from Japan?" I quickly changed the subject.

"Yup, born and breed!" she said happily.

"Ah, it must be cool to live there. Have you been to Tokyo?"

"Of course! I lived in Tokyo!"

"Wow, that's so cool! Did you ever gone into Sunomata Castle? I've always wanted to."

"Oh, the one built by Hideyoshi Hashiba? Yeah, it was pretty cool."

"Hurry up and finish your food, kids! There's a Shen Gong Wu that just activated!" Dojo proclaimed, flourishing a scroll as he wiggled through the room and out the other door to the gardens.

There was an excited uproar from the Monks as they stood up from the table and left their food forgotten. I quickly shoved a few more morsels of food into my all ready full mouth as I followed the Dragons, real and warrior, outside. Dojo quickly super sized himself and the Monks hopped on. I stood by and looked up at them, wondering what I was supposed to do.

"Oh!" said Clay, "We almost forgot Adrienne." He extended his hand to me, offering me the leverage needed to climb on the behemoth. As soon as I was seated safely, Dojo, using his giant hands to push off of the ground, took flight, rising gracefully toward the heavens. I looked over the side and became a little frightened; the previous time I had been on Dojo I was too wrapped up in my own self-pity to really take in the fact that we were flying, and that I had a small fear of heights. But fear was soon forgotten when the beautiful view met my eyes. The trees so small on a never-ending valley, which elegantly held towns on her breast, keeping them tucked protectively behind hills, out of the way of angry storms from the throne of God.

"So, what Wu is it?" I was cleaved from my lyrical state by Raimundo's inquisition, to which Kimiko responded by taking the scroll out of Dojo's huge claw. The others and I looked over her shoulder at the scroll, where there was a picture of a man who was holding a small lantern in his hand.

"It's called The GuÄng Lantern. It supplies unlimited light to the holder." The man was suddenly surrounded by blackness, and was lost from view. But, after a moment, the man was surrounded by a small circle of light, and was triumphantly holding the lantern over his head. Kimiko looked up from the scroll, a disappointed frown on her face. "That'll be really helpful," she said sarcastically, closing the scroll.

"I think that there's something like that in Harry Potter," I said, frowning in concentration. "Yes! It was called The Hand of Glory. Draco Malfoy used it to see through this powder that made it nearly impossible to see." The Monks looked at me with their eyebrows raised. I smiled sheepishly. "Ignore that previous statement." I said quietly, so they could just barely hear me over the rush of the air.

"Well, now we know how it could be helpful," commented Raimundo, trying to make me look less like the nerd I was.

I smiled at him. He smiled back. The Monks started talking amongst themselves and I looked back at the ground, but there was no longer the beautiful sight of the valley, but the ocean. My stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch, and I once again felt nervous.

"Hey, Adrienne." I looked up at Riamundo. "Are you ready to watch us kick Jack Spicer's butt?"

"Oh, sure." I said, "Are you always so confident that you'll kick his, er, butt?"

"Uh, yeah!" Kimiko interjected, "It's hard not to feel sorry for him! He is so weak."

"He's about as easy to defeat as a foul in a buckin' contest." Clay added.

I snorted with laughter. "That's funny, Clay," I giggled, eliciting a smile from the cowboy.

"Okay kids! We're almost there!" Dojo cried, turning slightly to the left, then dipping down. I looked over the side or the dragon again and saw that we were now over land again, but not a lush valley like before, but a desert.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We're over Australia." answered Dojo, "Who knew that I would hide a shen gong wu here, of all places?"

"Come on! I don't see Spicer yet! Where is he?" Riamundo said, irritated. The others looked, too, but Spicer was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, here we are!" Dojo said as we landed in the middle of the Australian outback. I covered my eyes with my hand and scanned the baron horizon.

"Well, where is the Shen Gong Wu?" I inquired squinting my eyes.

"It's here somewhere," said Dojo, transforming back to his normal size.

"But, where?" asked Raimundo, also scanning the horizon.

"Where do you sense it, Dojo?" Kimiko asked, squinting at the ground.

"Hm. I think it's over…there!" He pointed toward a huge rock sitting about a mile and a half away.

"Well, come on then!" cried Clay, "Let's get this rodeo started!"

"I don't think it's wise to walk across the outback at midday." I said as the others began to walk, "It would take forever to get there, and the sun would be beating down on us from directly above. I think it would be better if, well, if he was up to it, if Dojo flew us there."

Everyone looked to Raimundo. "Well, I guess that that would be the safest thing to do." he answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Dojo sighed as he became large again. "Well, hop on." He said, lowering his back to an accessible level.

Everyone hopped on again, (I got help from Clay,) and we started off towards the rock formation. While we were flying, the Monks saw the outline of Jack Spicer flying towards us with his heli-pack.

"There's that varmint Spicer!" cried Clay, rubbing his hands in anticipation, but he paused in confusion saying, "Wait, what is that next to him?" The Monks and I watched curiously as a second, slightly smaller outline appeared next to him on the horizon.

"What, or _who,_ is that?" asked Kimiko, shielding her eyes from the hot sun to get a better view.

"There's only way to find out," stated Omi, pointing his small hand forward at the odd sight. "Onward!"

We were there within the minute, and where just in time to see Jack, Wuya, and a strange girl, who hadn't been at my first introduction of these people, land.

"Who's your girlfriend, Jack?" Kimiko asked tauntingly.

"This is Amanda," said Jack proudly, "She is the most evil girl in the world! She's the smartest, too." He looked at her adoringly.

I, too, surveyed her. She looked to be about fifteen years old; her face still had some of the roundness from her youth, which without, she would have looked seventeen. She was wearing a light green tee shirt with a black rose off toward the lower right side. Her pants were blue jeans with rips in the knees, (which made me laugh to myself; I had seen these types of jeans in _all _of the magazines the popular girls got from the United States.) She also had boots with a high heel, but not too high; after all, she could walk in them.

"So these are the Monks you told me so much about, Jackie?" She asked in a sweet voice, observing us all with wide, blue eyes. "Well, it's nice to meet you all!" The next thing I knew, I was being pulled into a group hug by this strangely happy teenager.

"Hey! Get off!"

"Yeah, don't touch the merchandise!"

"Yes, please get off of me!"

"Eww! Amanda germs!"

Amanda pulled away, looking slightly hurt. "They are just as rude as you told me they were." She said, moving back to her place next to Jack.

"Will you two shut up and just get the Shen Gong Wu?" Wuya cut in, seething.

"Right! The Wu!" exclaimed Raimundo, returning to the search. For the next few minutes, that was all anyone did. But then, another guest showed up to our little search party.

"Looking for this?" Everyone froze, and then slowly turned toward a triumphant Chase Young, a smirk on his lips.

"Chase Young! What are you doing here?" Omi questioned the man, whose smirk grew wider at the question, giving him the air of, "Don't act like you don't know."

"Why, I'm doing the same thing you're doing here, young one. I'm competing for," He glanced over at me, "her apprenticeship."

"No one's competing for me," I said, more to my feet than the others.

"Really, now?" he asked in an amused tone. I kept my eyes glued at my feet. "Then, why do you think the Monks are so eager to show you how they fight?" I still didn't say anything, as I had just become very shy. "Look at people when they speak to you, girl."

"Don't talk to her like that! She isn't your apprentice!" Kimiko was quick to come to my defense.

I felt Chase's eyes on the back of my neck. "Yet." I glanced up at his haunting eyes when there was a sudden uproar from Wuya and the Monks as they all verbally assaulted Chase for his slander. The argument became more heated, and resulted in the Monks attacking Chase. He was not caught off guard, so the attacks bounced off of him like a fat man bounces off of the sidewalk when he tripsas he swiftly blocked their kicks and punches. I'm sure Wuya, too, would have attacked if she had more than a floating head. After a while, the monks grew weary, and their attacks grew weaker and eventually stopped all together. All excepting Omi flopped tiredly to the ground, while the young Monk made a weak attempt to punch Chase. It was blocked, and Omi slumped down to the ground as well.

I gazed in surprise as Chase smirked down at the Dragons, but I quickly looked down again when he redirected his eyes to me.

"You are giving me a lot to work with," he said, not trying to keep the triumphant edge out of his voice. There was a moment when nothing was said, and I wondered if he had left. But I then saw his feet, and I knew that he was standing right in front of me. The thought of him being so close to me frightened me, so my body tensed automatically. He grabbed my hand from my side, and I nearly died, knowing that my fear probably made his smirk grow wider. I clenched my eyes shut, not wanting to see what he was going to do. He placed something in my open palm and closed my hand over it, and then left it hanging there. The next thing I knew, the Monks where asking me if I was all right.

I carefully opened my eyes to see The GuÄng Lantern's handle in my clenched fist.

"Yeah," I said, looking curiously at the Shen Gong Wu, "I'm fine."

End Chapter 3


End file.
